Parole denied  yet DeBeer will be freed

Thursday

Apr 24, 2008 at 12:01 AMApr 24, 2008 at 3:49 AM

Well-behaved inmates are released after serving two-thirds of their sentence no matter what parole officials suggest, so Brian DeBeer — convicted of entombing his baby in cement — is getting out in September.

Jessica Pierce

The man convicted in 2004 of hindering prosecution for entombing his newborn child in concrete will soon be released from prison, despite a ruling by the state Board of Parole calling for him to stay locked up for two more years.

Brian DeBeer, 36, who is an inmate at Otisville Correctional Facility in Orange County, was denied parole after an April 16 hearing before three board members. The state did not make the ruling public until Wednesday afternoon because the Division of Parole needed to first notify family members.

It was his second parole hearing; he was denied after his first appearance in 2006.
DeBeer is getting out because of the state’s “good behavior” law: Prison inmates are released after serving two-thirds of their maximum sentences if they have behaved behind bars. DeBeer, having done that, is being released by the state Department of Correctional Services on Sept. 16, said Carol Weaver, a spokesperson for the state Division of Parole.

In its ruling last week, the Board of Parole wrote to DeBeer, “If released at this time there is a reasonable probability that you would not live and remain at liberty without violating the law and your release at this time is incompatible with the welfare and safety of the community.”

The board wrote that DeBeer’s actions were “heartless,” “cowardly” and “heinous.”

A jury in Ontario County Court convicted DeBeer in October 2004; he was sentenced a few months later to the maximum, 2 1/3 to seven years in prison. Authorities said he helped hide the fact that his wife, Stacy, had murdered two of their newborns by entombing one of their bodies in concrete.

Police and prosecutors said both baby girls were full-term and self-delivered at home while the DeBeers were living in Canadice. Stacy DeBeer admitted that she wrapped one of the babies — born in 1998 — in a towel and placed it in the basement in a plastic bag. Brian DeBeer testified at his trial that he and Stacy had entombed that baby in a cement-filled, five-gallon bucket.

The second baby, born in 2003, had paper stuffed in her mouth, was wrapped in cloth and placed in a garbage bag and left in a shed.

The murders were discovered by relatives in January 2004 when the DeBeers were living in Farmington.

Convicted of two counts of second-degree murder, Stacy DeBeer, 34, is serving a 30 years-to-life sentence at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester County. She won’t be eligible for parole until 2033, according to the Department of Correctional Services.

Ontario County District Attorney R. Michael Tantillo was not surprised to learn of Brian DeBeer’s pending release.

“We all knew that he would get released someday,” Tantillo said. “He did receive the maximum sentence — you can only hold someone in (prison) for so long on the sentence he received.”

According to Linda Foglia, a representative from the Department of Correctional Services, neither Brian nor Stacy DeBeer have had any disciplinary infractions since they were locked up. He has been working in prison “industries” — construction work, she said.

It is unclear if the DeBeers are still married, as divorce records — kept on file at the Ontario County Clerk’s Office — are sealed. Brian DeBeer had filed for divorce amid the criminal proceedings.

Stacy DeBeer gave birth to another child in the fall of 2004, a few months after she pleaded guilty and was sent to prison. They had put another child up for adoption in 2001, and have two other children who have been in the care of relatives since they were charged.